Vincent Horn, from the Buddhist Geeks podcast, returns for a conversation around psychedelics, surrender and the self.
Show Notes
Psychedelics and Buddhism (Opening) – Recently on the Buddhist Geeks podcast Vincent Horn has been exploring the intersection of psychedelics and Buddhism. Vincent shares his experiences with psychedelics and discusses their similarities to meditation practices.
“Psilocybin was remarkably similar to me to the retreat experience, except it was a much faster version. It was like the same cycles of consciousness in meditation, but going through this psilocybin experience.” – Vincent Horn
Surrender into Selflessness (15:30) – Vincent talks about surrender and letting go of the sense of self. He explores the question of whether there are healthy and unhealthy forms of surrender.
The Illusory Self (30:30) – Raghu and Vincent discuss the view of self and selflessness in different spiritual paths. Vincent talks about the importance of clearing out the illusory self without losing touch and disengaging from life.
“The thing I see a lot more frequently is when people swing too far toward clearing out the self and sort of disengage from their lives, or think that spirituality is this transcendent super space somewhere. They really struggle, and I did as well in certain phases of my practice, to come back into life and seeing that there is nothing less profound or spiritual about cleaning the dishes than there is sitting on a cushion practicing some sort of contemplative technique. There is nothing inherently better about that situation from a certain standpoint, in terms of what is being offered.” – Vincent Horn
Happiness is Everything (46:40) – There are two kinds of happiness that we can pursue. The happiness we often make the mistake of grasping at is the happiness that depends on conditions. Vincent and Raghu talk about setting our aspirations instead on attaining the kind of happiness that comes independent of anything else.
“The interesting thing is how we are seeking to get more happiness that is contingent on conditions, thinking that is going to give us the independent happiness; conflating the two and thinking they are the same. In my experience, practice really did help me start to get the difference between those two. To see that there was something fundamentally ok, even when my whole ego structure was dissolving and there was terror and total groundlessness; even that was ok on some level.” – Vincent Horn
Spirit of Reverence (54:30) – Vincent and Raghu talk a bit about the importance of reverence in all spiritual practices. Be sure to check out the great Tricycle article referenced in this part of the show by clicking here.
To keep up with Vincent visit his website, subscribe to the podcast Buddhist Geeks and check out his great meditation courses at Meditate.IO. You can find Vincent’s last visit to the Mindrolling podcast here.
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